LAHORE: The provincial capital on Thursday witnessed traffic mess on several roads including Gulberg’s Main Boulevard, Jail Road and Canal Road.

The most worrying situation was reported in the surroundings of Gaddafi Stadium where the National T20 Cup matches are being played. Almost all the major and small roads of Gulberg were packed with vehicles, creating hardships for the people returning home from workplaces as they got stuck in the traffic for hours.

The motorists and other citizens held the traffic police responsible for the mismanagement saying the police higher-ups failed to give a proper alternative traffic plan to ensure smooth flow.

The same situation was witnessed on Lahore Canal, Jail Road, The Mall and part of Ferozpur Road near the stadium. The congestion worsened when the traffic police tried to divert the traffic flow from major roads to the residential areas of Gulberg, Shadman and Garden Town where people got stuck for many hours in the bumper-to-bumper traffic.

The long queues of vehicles were witnessed on both sides of the main boulevard (from Kalma Chowk underpass to Siddiq Trade Centre) where the helpless wardens failed to give relief to the motorists to reach their destinations.

Visitors to government and private hospitals and clinics on Jail Road and around faced a great deal of inconvenience due to the gridlocks. The city police higher-ups said the pressure of the traffic increased on the roads of Gulberg due to security measures for the cricket players.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2021